I’m also autistic and always attributed this issue to that rather than ad(h)d, but I did think about this and did notice a pattern. There’s 2 things that seem to control whether loud music is acceptable for me or whether it overloads my brain:. It eitther needs to be the single source of sound (i.e. festivals, concerts) or it needs to be fully in my control. Preferably both. I can’t handle music playing and people talking over it, because they’re two sources of sound that I can’t effectively filter. When I’m at a show specifically for the music, I hear nothing but the music and it’s usually also music that I enjoy. When I have control over the music, it seems to make it easier as well. When I get overloaded I can instantly stop it, which stops the panic situation when my brain starts overloiding and there’s not easy escape from the noise.

Edit: and I also listen to pretty fast/noisy music. I assume it’s because my mind gets distracted and starts wandering when there isn’t enough going on.

I don’t know where I land on the spectrum, just know I vibe with the tribe so far. I’ve been listening to skate punk lately, pretty much exclusively roller skating to Pennywise. It’s been really helping my anxiety lately with tourists. Pennywise - All or Nothing

I’ve just given it a listen to this and I love it. I think it works because so many stimuli are coming at your brain so fast, and they’re changing to quickly. Constantlyhavint to react to new, changing stimuli is what ADHD brains crave, and I feel tike this music perfectle feeds that need.